The woman looked at him with an indifferent expression. “Do you have any other questions?”
Other questions?
After she had said all that, what more could he ask?
A cold laugh escaped Xiao Hanjin’s throat. “Do you really think you’ll be comfortable living alone? If other women enter the harem, they’ll inevitably be around you all the time. Do you really not care?”
Di Ronghua took a slight breath, suppressing the rising nausea in her stomach. “Then could I ask you, if other women enter the palace, to try not to come to me? As long as you lose interest in me, they probably won’t bother me either, right?”
Xiao Hanjin’s pupils contracted, his gaze growing even darker.
He had long known how little she cared about him now, but he couldn’t help asking, repeatedly confirming the answer, as if she might suddenly give him a completely different response.
But she didn’t.
She had even planned for the future.
For a moment, Xiao Hanjin couldn’t help but wonder if she had said all this precisely to achieve this outcome.
“Princess,” Liu Xijiao couldn’t help but interject, her voice filled with frustration. “How can you use the Crown Prince’s favor for you to threaten him like this?”
“Huh?” Di Ronghua was baffled.
After thinking for a while, she realized that to others, her words might have sounded like, “If you hold the selection of consorts, don’t come to me again.”
Di Ronghua found it somewhat amusing. “Alright, then I’ll rephrase it,” she said helplessly. “I have no objections to the selection of consorts. You don’t need to ask me or consider my feelings.”
Xiao Hanjin’s breath hitched, the darkness in his eyes deepening like an overturned inkstone, heavy shadows swirling within.
Chancellor Liu seized the moment. “The princess is indeed wise and magnanimous. What do you think… about bringing up the selection of consorts once His Highness ascends the throne?”
Before Di Ronghua could respond, Xiao Hanjin’s face darkened, his voice biting. “Di Ronghua, if you dare say another word…”
Before he could finish, the woman swayed slightly, her increasingly pale face clearly visible.
Xiao Hanjin’s pupils contracted. “Ronghua!”
He immediately stepped forward and caught her. “What’s wrong?”
Di Ronghua wasn’t actually in any serious condition—she had just bent over, feeling like she was about to vomit. But the man probably thought she was about to faint.
However, she was so uncomfortable that she felt like she might vomit if she opened her mouth, so she just shook her head with difficulty and closed her eyes without speaking.
Liu Xijiao stared at the scene in shock, then let out a bitter laugh. “The princess claims to be magnanimous and indifferent, yet she uses such an old trick to gain sympathy. How—”
“Silence!” Xiao Hanjin’s face turned livid as he barked.
If she were willing to gain sympathy, why would he be standing here listening to these irrelevant people spouting nonsense?
Liu Xijiao’s face paled. “Father…”
Just as Chancellor Liu was about to speak, the man’s icy gaze swept over them. “I made it very clear in the imperial study earlier that even if Di Ronghua agreed, I would not consent to the selection of consorts. Instead of wasting time on her, Chancellor Liu, you should think of other ways to secure your position.”
Chancellor Liu was startled.
Xiao Hanjin’s voice grew colder, each word deliberate. “No matter what others think, I only care for her. So don’t appear in front of her again. If anything happens to her, I won’t know who to hold accountable.”
With that, he abruptly picked up the woman in his arms and strode swiftly toward the Longyin Palace.
